“Burke shows again that he’s not just a comic genius, but also a fine dramatic writer and storyteller.” – Booklist. “Prose both scabrous and poetic.” – Publishers Weekly. “Proust meets Chandler over a pint of Guinness.” – Spectator. “Among the most memorable books of the year, of any genre.” – Sunday Times. “A hardboiled delight.” – Guardian. “Imagine Donald Westlake and Richard Stark collaborating on a screwball noir.” – Kirkus Reviews. “A cross between Raymond Chandler and Flann O’Brien.” – John Banville.

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Resistance Is Futile

I was planning on getting along to the launch of CONQUEST by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard yesterday evening, but then life in the shape of work reared its ugly head. Which is a pity, because CONQUEST sounds like a smashing book. To wit:

It may not qualify as Irish crime fiction / mystery, exactly, but it would be remiss of me not to mention the new novel CONQUEST: THE BOOK OF THE INVADERS (Headline), given that it’s written by John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard and sounds like it’s terrific fun – and I, for one, welcome our new overlords. Quoth the blurb elves:

Earth is no longer ours. It is ruled by the Illyri, a beautiful, civilised yet ruthless alien species. But humankind has not given up the fight, and Paul Kerr is one of a new generation of young Resistance leaders waging war on the invaders.
Syl Hellais is the first of the Illyri to be born on Earth. Trapped inside the walls of her father’s stronghold, hated by the humans, she longs to escape.
But on her sixteenth birthday, Syl’s life is about to change forever. She will become an outcast, an enemy of her people, for daring to save the life of one human: Paul Kerr. Only together do they have a chance of saving each other, and the planet they both call home.
For there is a greater darkness behind the Illyri conquest of Earth, and the real invasion has not yet even begun ...

CONQUEST is ‘the start of an epic new series from bestselling author John Connolly and Jennifer Ridyard’, by the way, so there’ll be plenty more where that came from. I do hope, for the Illyri’s sake, that they’ve read up on their Donagh MacDonagh …
Hats off to John Connolly. He’s already given us private eye fiction, gothic supernatural, young adult comedy, fairy tale reinvention – and now, with Jennifer Ridyard, epic fantasy. He’s turning into the Irish William Goldman before our very eyes.

Crime Always Pays

The Lost and The Blind

“Burke shows again that he’s not just a comic genius, but also a fine dramatic writer and storyteller.” – Booklist

Absolute Zero Cool

“Among the most memorable books of the year, of any genre, was Declan Burke’s ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL ... a fiendishly dark thriller that evokes the best of Flann O’Brien and Bret Easton Ellis.” - Sunday Times

Books To Die For

“As good a collection of short essays on crime fiction as one is likely to find.” - Washington Post